Environment & sustainability

I am a strong voice calling for action for our environment and on global warming. My support for the natural environment spans decades—my 1993 South East forests Protection Bill was used as a model to protect old growth forests.

As State representative, my focus has been to get the Government to set an effective carbon reduction target, initiate sustainability criteria for new apartments, and transfer power supply from dirty coal to renewable and local generation.

At the City of Sydney, we completed extensive research and historically broad consultation to develop Sustainable Sydney 2030, with strong targets and ambitious projects. I have presented our strategy to both Government and Opposition to seek cooperation and action.

Action on global warming is a first priority in Sustainable Sydney 2030. To play our part, the local government area must cut greenhouse emissions by 70 per cent on 2006 levels by 2030—and our work puts us on track to meet that target.

Current City of Sydney work includes:
 Creating a strategic master plan to guide the efficient and cost effective installation of new green energy, water and waste infrastructure.
 Inviting private sector partners to work with us to introduce more sustainable district energy, heating and cooling (trigeneration) into Sydney, forming the basis of a network.
 Cutting Council’s greenhouse gas emissions through improvements to buildings, installation of solar panels, more efficient fleet management and sustainable street lighting trials.
 Incorporating energy and water sustainability measures into all projects, parks and operations.
 Trialling our first electric vehicle and promoting car-share through the allocation of special car-share parking spaces across the LGA.
 Creating a network of safe bike paths to provide an alternative transport option that can reduce congestion, obesity and carbon emissions.
 Working with residents and business, through programs such as CitySwitch, to promote green technologies and sustainable practice.

The City of Sydney’s goal is to produce 100 per cent of our energy needs locally by 2030. Seventy per cent will come from trigeneration, with the remainder from renewable energy.

Local trigeneration systems are three times more energy-efficient than coal-fired plants because they capture the waste heat from low-carbon electricity generation and use it to heat and cool buildings with zero-carbon thermal energy instead of high-carbon grid electricity.

Electricity prices in NSW are rising, with $18 billion in upgrades proposed to the coal-fired electricity network. Local trigeneration will make much of this work unnecessary and avoid costs of $3 and $4 billion dollars for new coal-fired power stations.

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@clovermooreFood waste in Australia is a social & environmental problem that costs us $10 billion each year. We simply must fix this, and the small changes we can all make really do add up. Well done @OzHarvest for today's #thinkeatsave events.

Clover Moore is Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney - the first popularly elected woman in the role. Under her independent leadership, Sydney has developed a global reputation for taking ambitious action on climate change, delivering award-winning facilities, protecting open space, promoting design excellence, delivering new transport options and initiating progressive solutions to complex social problems.